A Few Gems From Assemblyman Bob Reilly's Anti-MMA Memo

New York State Assemblyman Bob Reilly, the most vocal and most ill-informed of the opposition to legalizing MMA in New York, sent around a memo called "The Case Against Ultimate Fighting in New York State". In it he asks that people ignore the studies showing that MMA would bring revenue to the state and instead believe his reasoning that it would hurt New York's economy, and he decries the impact more violence would have on our society. It's 24 pages long - all of it drivel - and here are a few gems:

• "Some 13 deaths have been reported prior to the organization of the sport into the current franchises and the establishment of the present rules".
• "It is indisputable that according to the rules themselves inflicting injury on an opponent rather than a demonstration of skill is the primary criteria for ultimate fighting."
• "An example of how violence begets violence are the threats made to the author due to his opposition to the sport. Assembly staff deemed it necessary to report some of the threats to his physical well being to the New York State Police. While legislators routinely receive objectives to various proposed legislation, the reaction from constituents and the general public rarely approaches the vileness of some of the email and blog messages directed at the author in 'support' of ultimate fighting."
• "Dana White is the President of the UFC and the major force behind attempting to legalize ultimate fighting in New York State. What he predicts for the future of ultimate fighting should be a warning for all who would legalize it: 'I eat, sleep, breathe and live mixed martial arts. I love this shit. It's what I do, but look, at the moment this thing we have is really pure. It's not all fucking dirty like boxing. I know that day is coming."

Assemblyman Bob Reilly Wants MMA Banned in NYS; Also, Crocodiles and Exclamation Points

Assemblyman Bob Reilly has become one of the most vocal dissenting voices in the push to get MMA legalized in New York State. At last month's legislative roundtable he blasted the sport because it "promotes violence", and his rhetoric has bled out into whatever interviews and editorials he can manage (check out MMAWeekly.com for his latest diatribe). But this isn't the first cause that Reilly has championed, and a little digging into official state records reveals the following legislative history:

• In 2004, Reilly sponsored a bill to ban crocodiles, citing them as "nefarious, untrustable creatures who eat my luggage".
• Also in 2004, Reilly sought to allow Westchester County to secede from New York State and the United States, effectively making it a country.
• In 2006, Reilly tried to ban the exclamation point. According to Grammar Committee minutes, he believed the exclamation point to be "too violent". His proposal involved replacing it with a smiley-face emoticon.
• In 2007, Reilly attempted to knight a constituent. This involved attacking the constituent with a sword.

From his history, it's clear that MMA could very well remain banned in New York State. Um, not.

Battles Unseen

Yesterday I interviewed top-level East Coast lightweight Brian McLaughlin. The scope of the interview far exceeds the constraints of this blog (i.e., it was a long interview that will find a home in next month's Full Contact Fighter magazine), suffice to say that it was all about his one-on-one session with New York State Assemblyman Bob Reilly. The same Assemblyman Reilly who's done his damnedest to keep MMA out of New York? The same Assemblyman Reilly who believes the sport promotes violence, and who believes this form of barbarism is tantamount to the decline of Western civilization? Yeah, that guy. And yesterday, McLaughlin drove up to Albany and met with Reilly, and the ROC 155-pound Beasts of the Northeast tournament winner went toe-to-toe with him and explained the ins and outs of this sport we love. How did it go? According to McLaughlin, maybe - maybe - things moved half a step forward. But regardless, McLaughlin was there, acting as a representative for those of us dying to get MMA into New York State, and from the sounds of it McLaughlin did an outstanding job. There are battles we get to see, on pay-per-view and SpikeTV and CBS and NBC, and there are battles unseen - which are sometimes more important in the grand scheme of things. Myself, I'm glad McLaughlin was there yesterday fighting this one.